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About Blogging – A New Series at 5 Minutes for Mom

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This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

The first Monday of every month, we will be blogging about blogging – covering topics from blogging basics to advanced techniques.

Remember when you first started blogging and you felt lost in a world where everyone else seemed to know what was going on and you were just trying to keep up and not make a fool of yourself? There were all these new words flying around – like memes and Mr. Linky – and you had no idea how to speak this crazy language.

Maybe it wasn’t that long ago for you. Maybe you are brand new right now! Maybe you are just trying to figure out how to join in the strange games bloggers play.

It was hard for all of us. Each of us was the new blogger on the block at one point. I remember my first run in with Mr. Linky…

It was April last year. I had been blogging for just over a month, when I stumbled upon this fun thing called Wordless Wednesday and it had this strange little box where people were adding their names. I was confused… and curious. Was this like commenting? I typed my name in. I don’t know why I did it, just like a three year old doesn’t know why he suddenly hit his baby cousin. I just did it to see what would happen.

And then my link appeared there and I knew I was in trouble! “This means I need to do this Wordless Wednesday thing – like right now!” I panicked – it was after 11pm. I wanted to go to bed! “It’s okay Janice – you can figure this out…” I tried to convince myself.

But, if you are new around here, there is something you might not know about me. I am nothing without my twin Susan. And back then – I really was nothing without her! I am now a tech wiz compared to what I was back then. A year ago, I still had Susan upload my pictures and write even the simplest HTML for me. Heck – I didn’t even know what HTML meant! I just wrote and then hollered for Susan to come help me.

But there are moments in every young life when we try to do something on our own. We step out. We take a chance. And then, we fail and scream for help.

I tried. I really did. I went to that Mr. Linky site, I set up an account and I tried so very hard to get it to magically appear on my site.

But I couldn’t do it. I needed Susan.

Enter problem. It was after 12 am and Susan was in bed. She doesn’t have a phone in her room, so the only way to wake her up was to go over there and pull her out of bed.

So that is what I did. In my pajamas, I drove to her house, sneaked upstairs and dragged her out of bed. (No – she wasn’t too happy to see me!) But being the hero twin she is – she got up and an hour or so later, my first Wordless Wednesday – complete with a Mr. Linky of my own – was up!

Now – since most of you don’t have a twin sister you can pull out of bed in the middle of the night to answer your blogging questions, I thought a series covering basic blogging topics, and even advanced technical information, would be a fantastic idea. We are constantly learning ourselves – and bugging Susan’s techie husband Rob to help us too – and we would love to pass on some of what we have learned.

We will be covering topics such as:

  • What is Page Rank and How Do I Get It?
  • All About Carnivals and Memes
  • How To Embed Video, Music and Slideshows
  • SEO – The Basics
  • The HTML You Need to Know

And we aren’t going to be the only teachers! We want some of you experts out there to enlighten us too!

So we will be accepting some guest contributors for this series. If you have blogging experience and wisdom you want to share, please email me at janice @ 5minutesformom.com (remove spaces) with a few links to sample posts you have written and your post idea.

We will not be able to accept all submissions, and some may be duplicates of posts already in the works, but we do look forward to hearing from you. If we think that your post idea is a good match for us, we will let you know and then you can send the complete post for final approval. All posts must be original work and not previously posted on your site.

So if you are interested in learning more about blogging, or sharing your knowledge with others, check us out the first Monday of the month for About Blogging.

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36 Comments

  1. Oh how I’m waiting so patiently for the first Monday of every month. Everything I’ve tried to read about blogging is screwing with my mind! I can’t even figure out what to do. Not even the first step. Even the simple directions sound complicated. So please, PLEASE bring on the instructions. Make them for pre-K children and maybe I’ll be able to understand. Like I said, I can’t even figure out the first step – much less all this complicated stuff you’re talking about.

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  2. What a great idea, Janice. Yes, I remember how baggling it all was year ago when I created my blog. You learn a lot as you go along, of course, but some things remain a complete mystery until they are very clearly explained, in writing. This is something I’ll be checking on every Monday!

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  3. Oh this is a great idea! I’m a hands on person. Since I do everything on my site I can always learn more. I don’t have a twin per-se but my sister is right down the street and yes she too used to get me out of jams! Now we share. Lately I’ve been trying to use CSS (let me know if my site doesn’t show up for you, my err) and Photoshop.

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  7. What a wonderful idea! I remember when I first started blogging – I definitely felt like a fish out of water – LOL!

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  8. I am so looking forward to this feature. I am so blog inept! But I am looking forward to getting better at it!

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  9. I can’t wait!! I am relatively a newbie blogger and really want to make mine even better so the more help the better. Thanks for having such a great idea!!
    Mel

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  10. Hi Janice, I will gently ask my hubby to contribute his SEO stuff, as he speako computoro English a challenged one like me does understand (and he better write things as I also have a habit of dragging him out of bed for techy thingies)

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  11. What an awesome idea! Even though I know how to do some of the topics, I LOVE learning and I plan to help hype this on my own blog. I too feel like a newbie some days (ok ok ok ALOT of days LOL). Thanks so much!!

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  12. YAY!

    I have been blogging for close to a year and a half and I still feel like a newbie. And you guys are on WordPress. Double yay!

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  13. Everything thet I’ve done on my blog is trial & error. If asked to go back & do it again, I wouldn’t be able to. I am so looking foward to your tutorials!

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  14. I just learned to add video and music to my blog! It’s great! Now my readers can hear my playlist instead of just looking at my list. Check it out!

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  15. What a great idea! I remember how many hours I spent trying to figure out how to make my blog look just like I liked it!

    Loved the story by the way – hilarious! 🙂

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  18. Yes! I’m DYING to know more about “How To Embed Video, Music and Slideshows” — seriously! Can you help Blogger people, too?!?

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  19. Oh good!! I’ve been seeing some of those things you’re talking about and I have no clue what they mean!! I need a BUNCH of help! Thanks!

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  24. It’s amazing what happens in a years time. Your blogging skills have improved quite a bit not to mention your lurkers list and commentors have increased big time!!!

    Your sister must love you as well – I wouldn’t have been able to drag my sister outa bed for that!!

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  25. What a great idea! You continue to find ways to enhance our lives!

    Now, if we could all just have Susan’s phone number for our own middle-of-the-night blogging quandries!!!!

    Diane

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  26. This is great! I’ve only just begun visiting your site regularly, and I’ve been terribly inspired by it and all the others who link to it – maybe I should try this for myself! Thanks very much!

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  27. I’m so glad you’re doing this! I just posted about having a blogging headache b/c there’s so much cool stuff out there…I just don’t know what to do! 😉

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  29. What a great idea. There is so much I want to learn about blogging. Thanks for being willing to share with us.

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  30. Excellent idea – I’ve been blogging for over a year and I still don’t know all that stuff. So I’m looking forward to it!

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  32. I am so excited about these upcoming posts. I am blog challenged and would love some lessons on how to do things.

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  33. This is a great idea! Some things I’ve figured out, but Mr. Linky is still my nemesis. And the “music on the blog” is just such a mystery to me 🙂 Yes, I’m technically challenged.

    Reply